Railway-signal-operating device.



APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1908.

Patented June 8, 1909.

Snueufoz 1/91 I eons nunmsrmns.mc Lmmmummncmnt ARTHUR S. HICKLEY, OF MANASQUAN, NEW JERSEY.

4 RAILWAiZ-SIGNAL-OPERATING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR S. HICKLEY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Manasquan, in the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and-useful Improvements in Railway Signal Operating Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a tull, clear, and exact description of the inven- 3 tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i

My invention relates primarily to railway signals, has especial reference to electrically operated signals, has for its object economy and certainty of operation, and the invention consists in certain improvements in construction, which will be fully disclosed in the following specification and claims.

Signals have heretofore been operated-by the use of primary batteries, orsec'ondary batteries charged from a direct current cir cuit, and where alternating current only has been available, a rotary transformer has been used for changing the alternating into direct I currents, which involves great loss and requires considerable attention. It has also been proposed to operate electrically controlled devices for working signals by alternating currents, but these have never proved as satis* factory asdirect currents, because of the uncertainty of their starting immediately when "required, beside mechanical and heatin'gdit'ficulties attending their use.

It is my purpose to utilize 'alternating'currents by changing them into direct currents through the mediumof an electrolytic current rectifier, and using. these rectified currents for operating electrical devices for working the signals direct without the use of storage batteries, or for operating electrical devices which in turn operate mechanical devices for working the signals, and thereby overcoming the serious defects enumerated.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification :-Figure 1 represents a diagrammatic view partly in plan and'partly in'elevation showing the application of my invention to a railway signal, and Fig. 2 a like view of a modified construction. s

Reference being had to the drawings and the designating characters thereon, the nu meral 1 indicates one of the main lines for supplying alternating electric currents, 2

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Application filed April 24, 1908. Serial No. 429,0 9.

. preferably composed of cells 5, and holj low members 6 and 6 connected thereto, in communication therewith and tornnng an the other pole of the rectifier by wires 21 Patented June 8, 1909.

l the other line, 3 a transformer in the main 1 lines, which are of ord nary and well known i construction.

4 indicates an electrolytic current rectifier,

electrode through which the electrolyte circulates,-as shown and described in Letters- Patentof the United States granted to me, July 30, 1907, and numbered 861,281. The rectifier 4 is connected to the secondary 'line 1" of the transformer by wire 7, which con nects with the electrode of cell 5 and con tinues to the next cell 5 and the electrodes 8.

of the cells 5, 5' are connected together by wire 9 and the secondary line 2 is connected to the electrode 8 of the opposite cur-5 by wire 10, and said wire continues tothe next 75 and their hollow members 6' 6 are separate cell 5,- as shown in Fig. l. The cells 5., 5"

and distinct, but their electrodes 8 8' are connected together by the Wire 9,' while the cells 5, 5, areconnected by the continuous hollow member 6. I

the hollow electrode 6, forming one oker the rectifier, by wire 12, and-from the relay extends a. wire 13, which is connected to one of the railway rails 14, and the op )o site rail is connected to the other pole of therecti fier by wire 16; the rails lef'and 15 being properly insulated at their ends, thus forming an open circuit, which is closed when the whleels of a'car with their axle engage-the rai s. o

The electrically operated device 17 for con trolling the signal 18 is connected to one pole of the rectifier l by wires 20 and 12 and to and 19, having in their path the contact screws 26 and 27 connected to the relay'.-

The core or armature 22 ot-ithe relay 11 is connected to a pivoted arm 23 on which are t-wo contacts 24 and 25 electrically connected together and adapted to engage with the screw contacts 26 "and 27, when the core 22.

is drawn into the body of thei-elay when the current is passing,the sprin 28, tending to keep the core out of the b0 y when the' current is not passing. The core 29 of the operating device 17, is connected to the sigv nal 18, by rod 30.

" It is obvious that other electrically controlled devices such as electric, pneumatic 1140 11 indicates a relay, whichis connected to or hydraulic motors may substituted for 4 manipulated by the attendant in the tower.

In Fig. 2 an additional electrolytic current-rectifier 31 is shownfor charging a battery 32, preference also being given to one of the rectifiers shown and described in my Patent #861,281. One pole of the battery is connected to the relay 11 by wire 12', and the relay is connected to the rail 15 by wire 13, and rail 14 is connected to the opposite pole of the battery by wire 16. The rectifier 4 in the latter arran ement of the parts is connected to the secondary lines 1 and 2 as in the former, but the rectified current is conducted from o'nebf the poles of the recti-" fier to the device 17,'by wireZT'j'find' said device is connected to the opposite pole of the rectifier by wires 19 and 20 through the medium of thecontact-s 24 and 25 on the arm 23, and'the screw contacts 26 and 27, when the oore22 of the relay is drawn in.

- 'By'the-construction shown in Fig. 1,'the relay and the signal operating device are supplied by direct current from the rectifier, both. impulses. being used without the use of a storage battery, while in the construction shown in Fig. 2, the relay is operated by a battery 32 which is kept charged by a separate rectifier, while the signal operating device 17 is suppliedwith direct current from .-the rectifier 4:,without a storage battery being introduced in the circuit, It s obviousthat analogous devices, such as switch points, may be operated in like manner as the signal described, by suitable connections with the above described devices.

Having thus fully described my invention,

-- what I "claim is- 4 and two single cells, one of the active elec- 1. ha railway signal operating device, main lines forsupplying alternating current, an electrolytic rectifier comprising a double,

trodes in the double cell being connected to active electrode connected to the other alternating line, and their two active electrodes connected together by a suitable wire, and a connection between said wire, a signal opcrating device, and an insulated rail, for delivering a positive direct current, and a wire connecting the non-active electrode of the double cell, said wire connected to the signal operating device and to the other insulated ra-il,for deliverin a negative current, whereby storage batteries are dispensed with and perfectly uni-form current is obtained.

2. In a railway signal operating device, main lines for supplying alternating current, an electrolytic rectifier comprising 'a double, and two single cells, one of the active electrodes in the double cell being connected to one of the alternating lines and the other active electrode connected to the other alternating line, and one of the single cells having its non-active electrode connected to one of the alternating lines and the other nonactive electrode connected to the other alternating'line, and theirtwo active electrodes connected together by a suitable wire, and a 1 D: C. RnINoHL, W. PARKER Ransom 

